Method of making mining machine chain lugs



Aug. 3, 1943. H. M. MORROW 2,325,792

- METHOD OF MAKING MINING MACHINE CHAIN was Filed Jan. 15, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Au 3, 1943. H, M. MORRQW 2,325,792

METHOI? OF MAKING MINING MACHINE CHAIN LUGS Filed Jan. 15, 1941' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 59 v 28 INVENTOR.

Patented Aug. 3, 1943 w mirma iw mxm" aMm- IN j "LOHAINLUGS? GMACHINE' 1 rbllowirig d'sc'iipfibh and la 'm," t'ali'en i'ni c6115 junction with the accompan ing. draWingS in whiph: 1.

' 'Fig1i1ie 2 is' a-planfiriew of tWOf of the o eg-hm-ff Figllms 2 and 3 to mak ewhe Completed chain chajn; in' wliich =0ne chain lug *is' embodied wi-tha bit 5 carrying bbdy and in Whih' pthr Figure -9-'-is a cross-sectional view taken along proved pi-h typ'e connection; fbr'hplding-the Chain lugs together? f Figure 12'is a-perspectiveiew ofa' bush iflg ter bar sliowihg my chain as it appears the ebm- 'Fig u're' 151s plan elevationalview o'f'my-chain- I ifr whfcl'i every lhgbf the'chain i's'a bit parry- 'Figure le is a side elgvapionar view of a mod fl d-arrangement of my'chain lug assembly;

=Figiire 17 is a view-similar to-Figure 2 with m1 of th'qchairi: max" I v r Figure-'18 'is a; fragmentary cross-sectional View,

V fakenf'pnlgirie l8-J8 of Figure 8,jand shows: 7

primarily '3, i zo' ot h' of the. drivihg sp 'r oqket and. a-

tqot hrecess in a chain'lug,v and V v Figure 19" i's'a cross-sectional view, taken on line, |9+|acorFigure 14, and 'show s primari'ly' the guiding'o f the chain'in the cuttgrgbarp With referen ce tor Figures 1, 'Zf'and 3 ojf"t he drawings,.myi chain link is constructed of; two; identicalparts 2Q." The two parts M1 are de} scribed as l bing identical; althoughr one may Y be charabterfzd'fls aleft-handed. part arid th 1 thepasa right-handgad part They ar' ar 5b ranged itd be matched tgether Va 'n'd'then elded ter bar thereto. As shown in Figure 4,

' body assuming any one lug 38 having no hit carrying to make the c omplete link of the chain. Each of the identical parts is provided with an eye tive to each other by an amount to make the inthereof is provided with a wall 3| and the outer side wall portion and the inner ner side wall 33 of the yoke connection portion to lie in substantially the plane as the outer side wall 32 of the eye connection portion. Accordingly, when the two halves 20 are registered and welded together the inner side walls; 23 of the yoke connection portion are spaced apart by a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the two' registering eye connection. portions. 'The Weld for holding the two inner sidewalls 3 of the eye connection portion 2| together may extend between the reference characters 35 and 36, and between the reference character 39 and 4D,as shown in Figure 3, giving two welding regions between the parts.

After the two identical parts 20 are registered and welded together, the struction of my mining machine chain'lug isto weld or otherwise fasten the bit carrying body 4| ingof the bit carrying body 4| the bottom thereof may be cut in either, one of four difierent planes represented bythe planes 44, 45,146 and 41, depending upon the desired amount of staggering of the bit carrying body; vIn constructing a mining machine chain, some of the bit carrying bodies are staggered with re spect to the other bit carrying bodies in order to cut a cleft in the vein of coal. .This stag ling is accomplished by cutting the block 4| as shownin Figure 4 along either one of the four different positions indicatedby the reference characters 44, 45, and 41. In other words, a chain lug may be constructed with the bit carrying body positioned'perpendicularor with the bit carrying of many st ggered positions uponeither side of the center line-of the chain, making a total ofmanydifferentjpositions.

The bit carrying body 4| iswelded to the top surfaces of the lateral flanges along the juncture,

' between the bit carrying body and the top sur* faces of the flanges 25 as indicated by the reference character 48. Theibit carrying body rnay be provided witha bit holding socket 42 having opposing set screw openings 43 and may comprise next step in theconprior-to the weldto the chain link,

Figures 2and 3, but instead of welding the bit carrying body 4| thereto, I weld a tie or bridge plate 49 to the top edge surfaces of the flanges 25,. the weld being indicated by the reference character 50. The-welding of the bit carrying body 4| and the tie plate 49 to the top surfaces of the lateral flanges 25 'reenforces the yoke connection portions 22 and prevents them-from spreading or otherwise nrioving out of alignment, I

Inassembling the complete chainf-the eye connection portion fits in between the yoke connection portion of the next adjacent chain and are connected together by means of a bushing and pin connection, which comprises a bushing 5| and flat face 53.

a pin 52 having a The outside dif ameter of the bushing is such as to fit snugly in theopening 23. in the eye connection portion. The' bushing 5| isprovided with an internal groove 55 into which snaps a resilient spring wire -56.' The pin 52 is provided with an external groove 51, so. that upon the insertion of thepin 52 within the" opening of the bushing the snap spring 51 holds the'pin therein by reason or the engagement efiectedbetween thesnap spring 56 and theinternal groove 55 of the bushing and the external groove 51- of the pin.- ,The yok=opening material,

a bit carrying body substantially as shown inmy pending application Serial No. 364,154, filed November 4, 1940, now Patent No. 2,255,856 and entitled Reversible mining machine chain lugs.

With my type of chain lug, every lug of the chain may become'a'bit carrying lug or my chain may be arranged that every other 'orialternate chain lug, .or any other number of chain lugs may become a bit'carrying lug with the intervening lugs having no hit carrying lugs. This is shown 7 in Figure 'LIin that the right hand mg 3'! iS a bit carrying lug and in'that the left hand lug 38 is constructed Without a bit carrying'body. The V body isconstructed ofthe two same identical parts 20 as shown in 24 is provided with aflat face 54 so as to keep the pin 52 from turningwithin the'yoke connectionportion 22. Inthis'manner all of the relative movement takes place between the outer circum-' ference of the bushing-5| and the inner surface of the eye opening'i23 of. the eye-connection portion. v Therefore, upon removing a chain lug from the chain, it is only necessary to punch out the pin and upon the modnting' of a chain lug into-a chain it is only necessaryto drive the pin 52 into the bus hing 5],. in other words, the pin 52 may be inserted or removed withoutthe use of wrenches or special tools. v

In operation, theichainis A sprocket wheel around a cutter bar 58 and each of. the chain lugs is provided with a' tooth socket to re ceive the sprocket teeth 59.; Ot1eside'of each tooth socket is formed by the rounded end of the eye connection portion 2l. The outside urface driven a of ltheweld betweenthe reference characters 35 and 3B is substantially even with the rounded. end of theeye connection portion 2|, as theniating' niarginal edges between the reference characters 35' and 36 are bevelled at29 tojreceiye the welding;

I Theother side. of the tooth socket is formedbythe rounded surface 21 of the eyee'on nectionportion at V the juncture of the off-.1 st.;between the eye connection portion the-yoke vconnection portion; see Figure 8. The juncture of the off-set between the eye connection portion and the yoke=connection portion'is not a square-off-set but is a gradual curveclj or angular ofi set so that the surface 21 contacted by the sprocket teeth-is c1os erto the centerof'the opening 23 than the exter naloff-setshoulder28 on the outside side of the lug, see Figure 3. The gradually curved or angular off-set provides a strong integral connection between the eyeconnection portion and the yoke. connection portion,v as the pulling force upon the chain in this region is not concentrated as a shearing force but as a linear force directed angularly which absorbs the shock. Thev inside endfiiof the tooth socket'for each lug ofthe ase seinb led chain'is curvedfat the off set juncture and is engaged complementarily by the sprocket teeth;see Figure 18;

The'drivingof .each lug of the chainiby .a

buckling of theuchain is avoided 'by th'e'abutting ends iii) and s6l of ,thelateralflahgesaii' en gaging each" other and: forming :eifective stops topreventthe lugs of the chain from: cooking :or jamming in the cutter, Iban Thus, the "lateral flanges 25 serve substantially: five functions, namely, ill-'- :to provide surfaces to weld-vthe bit carrying body 41 or the tieplate-l flcthereto; (27

to give-:lateral'stabi-lityi to the side iwalls of the yoke connection portion} (3) to provide wearing surfaces against the topzof thewearing plates 5*2 of the-cutter-bargtflitoprevent the chairifrom V V saggin'g downwardly, and ('5) to prevent' the Jugs of ,the chainfromJamming: E ;.'The "bottom gibs 20 have'an arcuate upper edge zsurface- 631s'o that as the chairr'lug passes around: the rounded or forward .end of 'the cutter 'bar the' upper arou'ate surfaces :63 fornr a somewhat Ycontinuous'i'and cur ved' contact with the: channel in the -cutter bar to keep the chain lug from jamming andz thus V a position that it makes an abutting engagement at 69 with the bit carrying body at so as to keep the chain from sagging. With this modification, the abutting ends 60 and BI of the flanges 25 may be dispensed with, or the, resistance to sagging may be'efiected by employing both the abutting ends 60 and Si as well as the tie plate 68 engaging the bit carrying body. The coal dust and other particles which fall through the bit holding socket may escape to the outside through the dust opening H in the side wall of .the yoke connection portion 22.

In Figure 17, I show a spacer between the two identical parts to vary the thickness of the chain; The spacer '15 may be of any desired thickness to make the width of the chain ac-' commodate varying operating conditions.

7 253263312- without vbuckl-ing; jumping:rorlxsaggingz:5;.Th

Due to certain limits in operating speeds, of

cutting chains, it has been important heretofore that chains be built of a certain pitch, inorder that the pitch diameter of the driving sprocket.

be of a dimension which can be accommodated by the gearing of the machine. Since my'chain accommodates a sprocket tooth in every juncture or lug of the chain and since the chain can be operated on a sprocket of an uneven number of teeth as well as an even number, it becomes possible to manufacture chains into a standard pitch which can be accommodated by any ratio of gearing and yet maintain the cutting speed the gearing permits.

Although I have described my invention'with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and thecombination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

I claim as my invention:

1. The method of constructing a mining machine chain lug having a link portion and a bit carrying body portion mounted on the top of the link portion, said link portion having at one endrthereofameyeronnection portion andrhaving at-athe' otheriendithereofia yoke connection :por tion, saittimetlmd-compri'sing the "steps of. making the :linluportionwby. constructingtwo substanttial-ly'iallochiral link members, '-the' steps =:=of

making each link member including forming on one end tiiereof an eye connection portion with substantially-flat inner and outer surfaces and on the' 'other end thereof yoke connection por' tidrr'wlth substantially flat inner and "outer sur fadesyand laterally offsetting the innerand outer surfaces of' -the yoke connection portion relative to thinner and -outer surfaces,respectively, of the eye connection portion; jfasten'ing the-" two substantiallyallochiral 'lihk memberstogether to forth th'completed' link portion by placing two inrier surfaces 0f the} eye connection per; tioiis against-each other and "their welding the two reye connection portions "together witli'the yoke'co'nnetion portior s s'paced apart to receive the eyeconiiection"portion of an adjacent chain lug; makingabit carrying body portion and weld ing the bit carrying body portion to the top of the two link members to make the finished chain lug.

2. The method'of constructinga mining machine chain lug having a link portion and a bit carrying body portion mounted on the top of the link portion, said link portion having at one end thereof an eye connection portion and having at the other end thereof a yoke connection'portion, said method comprising the steps of making the link portion by constructing two substantially allochiral link members, the steps of making each link member including forming on oneend thereof an eye connection portion with substantially flat inner and outer surfaces andon. the other substantially the same plane as the outer surface of the eye connection portion,'fastening the two substantially allochiral link members together to form the completed link portion by placing the two inner surfaces of the eye connection portions against each other and then welding the two eye connection portions together with the'yoke connection portions spaced apart by a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the two fastened eye connection portions to receive the eye connection'portion of an adjacent chain lug, making a bit carrying body portion and welding the bit carrying body portion to the top of the 7 two link members to make the finished chain lug."

3. The method of constructing a mining machine chain lug having a link portion and a bit carrying body portion mounted on the top of the link portion, said link portion having at one end thereof an eye connection portion and having at the other end thereof a yoke connection portion,

said method comprising the steps of making the link portion by constructing two substantially allochiral link members, the steps of making each link member including rounding one end thereof and forming an eye connection portion with substantially fiat inner and outer surfaces and rounding the other end thereof and forming a yoke connection portion with substantially fiat inner and outer surfaces, and laterally offsetting the inner and outer surfaces of the yoke connection portion relative to the inner and outer surfaces, respectively, of the eye connection portion, fastening the two substantially allochiral link members together to form thecompleted link portion by placing the two inner surfaces of the eye connection portionspagainst each other with the rounded ends registering and then welding the rounded ends together with-the yoke connection portions spaced apart to receive the eye'connection portion of an adjacent chain lug, making a bit carrying body portion and weldingthe bit carrying body portion to the top of the two link members with the bit carrying body portion spanning the space between the spaced yoke connection portions to make the finished chain lug.

4. The method of constructing a-mining machine chain lugincluding aolink portion pro-'- vided at one end thereof with an eye connection portion and at the other end thereof with a yoke connection portion, said method comprising the steps of making the link portion by constructing two substantially allochiral link members, the steps of making each link member including forming on one end thereof an eye connection together to form the completedlink portion by placing the two inner surfaces of the eye connection portions against each other and then welding the two eye connection portions together with the'yoke' connection portions spaced apart to receive the eye connectionportion of an adjacent chain lug, making a bridge connecting member, and welding the connecting member to the top of the twolink members with the connecting member spanning the space between the spaced yoke connection portions to make the finished chain-lug.

HARRY M. MORROW. 

